ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) moved the Islamabad High Court (IHC) against the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), accusing it of being a B-team of the ruling Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) coalition after the former accepted the resignations of 11 its MPs.
PTI MPs had tendered their resignations en masse in April after Imran Khan was ousted as prime minister through a contentious vote of no-confidence. Initially, the resignations were accepted by then-deputy speaker Qasim Khan Suri, but his successor, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, reversed the decision claiming due process of verification had not been followed.
Following Ashraf’s move, the commission Friday denotified the lawmakers.
Ashraf had previously sought to confirm the resignations by issuing summons for MPs to personally meet him and confirm their decision, but the former ruling party had refused to participate in the process, prolonging the deadlock.
According to the media, the 11 lawmakers whose resignations have been accepted had all confirmed their resignations during public speeches.
“A petition has been submitted […] against the election commission for accepting the resignations […] of their choice,” Asad Umar, party’s secretary general, said in a tweet.
“All [MPs] resigned in front of the entire nation. All resignations should be accepted at once.”
الیکشن کمیشن کے بندر بانٹ کر کے اپنی مرضی کے 11 ممبران اسمبلی کے استعفے منظور کرنے کے خلاف پٹیشن اسلام آباد ہائی کورٹ میں جمع کرا دی ہے. سارے ملک کے سامنے لوٹوں کے علاوہ تمام تحریک انصاف کے ممبران نے استعفیٰ دیا. سب کے استعفے ایک ساتھ قبول کئے جائیں
— Asad Umar (@Asad_Umar) August 1, 2022
Earlier, speaking to the press outside the high court, Umar said his party approached the court after suspecting foul play.
“On April 11, all 125 of our people [minus turncoat MPs] resigned on the floor of the House, and on April 13, [now-former] Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri accepted those resignation letters,” he said.
He said the party resigned as a result of the alleged foreign interference that led to the ouster of Khan’s government at the centre.
Umar urged the people using social media to suggest a party symbol for the ECP “as it has become a part of PDM”.
The PTI leader accused ECP of engaging in “illegal activity” and stated the PTI refused to be a part of this conspiracy and, thus, resigned.
